My World War II Knowledge Broadens
One of my intentions in writing a book on the most decorated US Navy crew during World War II is to provide readers with the “big picture,” such as why she was off the coast of Japan on 19 March 1945. I could state that mission’s objectives (and I will), but that doesn’t do the story justice, especially for those readers not well versed in World War II naval history. USS Franklin was one of about 100 ships off the Japanese coast that day. Something that could not have happened three years earlier.
To that end, I just finished reading the two chapters devoted to the US Navy’s fleet tactics in World War II in the book Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations; I now think differently about the following three topics.
Budget Decisions Made During the 1920s
Budgeting is the least exciting but may be the most important. During the 1920s, the Navy’s budget decreased by 25 percent. Yet senior military and civilian leaders had the foresight to maintain the naval aviation budget (Page 77). Those budgetary decisions allowed the Navy to train enough aviators and invest in enough new research and development to be better prepared than its British counterparts. The Brits’ naval aviation withered as their Ministry of Defense redirected naval aviation monies to the Royal Air Force and land-based assets.
Nearly Every Ship Category Had Its Mission Changed
Only one ship category-minesweepers-kept its same mission throughout World War II. Every other category, from battleships to submarines, changed. Rather than supporting the fleet, carriers became THE primary weapon as we advanced across the Pacific. Battleships changed to provide support for the carriers. Heavy cruisers, which had a Mahanian mission of scouting for the fleet and their light cruiser cousins, became anti-aircraft platforms. Submarines gave up their scouting duties and took on anti-commerce and lifeguard duties.
(I knew that ships’ missions had changed, but I never realized it was all but one category.) (Page 79.)
The Importance of Radar and Codebreaking In World War II
All countries engaged in war planning; the US and Japan were no different. Both were influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783. Both tried to forecast what the other would do. Admiral Chester Nimitz was asked after World War II if the Japanese had used strategies or tactics the US didn’t expect. He replied that using Kamikazes was the only tactic the US didn’t expect.
In this book, the authors state that the Japanese failure to account for the use of radar and cryptoanalysis were two critical factors in their defeat. (I am aware of the use of Magic during WWII, especially before the Battle of Midway, but I never thought of it in this context.) To be fair to the Japanese, radar was still experimental in the US Navy just before the start of WWII. The Japanese were much further behind. Still, once the war started, they were slow in developing tactics to counter it.
I enjoyed reading the chapters related to World War II. If you are interested in US Naval History, read the entire book. However, if you find it too expensive, you can do what I did. My public library did not have the book, so I requested it via the Interlibrary Loan program. My copy came from Prairie View A&M’s library.
Did you arrive here via a search engine? I am the author of the forthcoming book Heroes By The Hundreds: The Story of the USS Franklin (CV-13). In addition to writing about the bravery of the crews that saved her, I will discuss the lessons we can learn in leadership and decision-making and the changes the US Navy made because of those lessons.
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-Glenn
